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SCENERY. 



The stern rules of science many seem to compel the geologist to take 

 •little note of the merely picturesque features of the landscape, yet, called 

 as he is, to view them in their wildest character, he cannot be altogether 

 insensible to the grandem- and majesty, or the variety and bloom of Na- 

 ture. The sublime mountainous scenery of the Eastern States, has 

 been often and justly dwelt upon with admiration, by both the geolo- 

 gist and the traveler. Little of the Peninsula scenery partakes of the 

 grandeur of primitive and more broken districts, but none can fail to 

 notice one superior charm, which more than compensates, in the eyes 

 of those who are content to overlook the romantic aspect of the land, 

 for the consideration of its solid bounties. To the cultivator of the soil, 

 every consideration which its picturesque character presents, will yield 

 before the more practical one of its fertility. 



But few could have traversed the varied portions of our State, over 

 which my duties during the past season have led me, and compare their 

 rich scenery with that of more eastern lands, with any feeling of disap- 

 pointment The ordinary character of the " openings," is that of a ma- 

 jestic orchard of stately oaks, which is frequently varied by small prai- 

 ries, grassy lawns, and clear lakes. These magnificent groves were, un- 

 til within a few years, kept free from under-brush by the passage through 

 them of annual fires, allowing successive growths of herbage to spring 

 up luxuriantly, covering the surface with a profusion of wild flowers and 

 verdure. 



The variety, so essential in a landscape of woodland, glade, and sheets 

 of water, are here combined in a manner which seems the result of art, 

 but which is not less truly inimitable. It is difficult to resist the im- 

 pression that we are surveying an old abode of civilization and of taste- 

 ful husbandry. It resembles those exquisite pictures of Park scenery, 

 where the vision roams at will among clumps of lofty oaks, and over 

 open glades, gemmed with flowers ; while the distant woodland bounds 

 the horizon, and the velvet-skirted lake gleams upon the eye as it re- 

 flects the light of the open prairie, or is faintly visible from the bosom 

 of the glen, reposing in silent loneliness. 



Such scenes, it is true, are destitute of the rough majesty of mountain 

 aspects, but they have that all-pei-vading, tranquil beauty which forsakes 

 ihe lofty hill-side and the hoary cliflT. They present Nature in her sim- 



